The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the state government of allegedly sponsoring political thugs behind Monday’s violent attack at the Naira and Kobo Junction in Ikire, Irewole Local Government Area, which reportedly left several people dead and others injured.
The APC Media Cluster made the allegation on Monday at an emergency press conference in Osogbo, describing the incident as a “calculated, armed attack on public safety and constitutional authority.”
Speaking at a press conference addressed by the group Coordinator, Mr Oluwafunsho Fagbohungbe, the group alleged that armed thugs allegedly aligned with the Accord Party and operating under the political umbrella of Governor Ademola Adeleke’s administration attacked the motor park in an attempt to forcefully take control of the transport hub.
The group further alleged that the violence escalated when the Divisional Police Officer of Irewole Police Division responded to a distress call over the alleged abduction and assault of an APC member, claiming that hoodlums attacked police officers and snatched service rifles from them.
The APC identified some alleged participants as Soskid, T. Banson and Ayewo, and called for their immediate arrest, along with Accord Party chieftain Jide Jooda and Senator Lere Oyewumi, whom it accused of being political sponsors of the violence. The allegations could not be independently verified.
The group also linked the incident to previous political violence in Irewole, recalling the killing of the former council chairman, Hon. Remi Abass, and alleging that the failure to prosecute perpetrators of past political killings had emboldened violent elements in the area.
The APC Media Cluster accused Governor Adeleke, as the state’s Chief Security Officer, of failing to prevent the alleged activities of political thugs, saying: “Governor Ademola Adeleke, as the Chief Security Officer of Osun State, has abdicated his constitutional oath by allowing state-linked thugs and wanted fugitives to operate with total impunity.”
The group called on the Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, the AIG in charge of Zone 11, the Osun State Commissioner of Police and other security agencies to urgently intervene, secure Ikire and other vulnerable areas, recover any stolen police weapons and prosecute those found culpable.
“Where political actors are complicit in murder and treasonable attacks on police officers, the law must act without fear or favour,” the APC said, while also appealing to its members and residents to remain calm and avoid reprisal attacks.
The allegations by the APC Media Cluster, including claims of political sponsorship and the alleged involvement of named individuals, could not be independently verified as of press time.
The police and Osun State Government had yet to publicly respond to the allegations, while the Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Gotan, was in Ikire to assess the situation and address the violence.